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August 12, 2008

G120: Red Sox 19, Rangers 17

Recapping this game -- which tied the American League record for most combined runs -- is out of the question. Instead, here are a few tidbits:

David Ortiz hit two three-run home runs in the first inning, becoming the first Sock to collect six RBI in one inning since Carlos Quintana on July 30, 1991 (also against Texas!). Flo likely was robbed of a third tater in the fifth when an idiot fan reached over the wall in dead center and caught the ball.

Kevin Youkilis made the first and third outs in the first inning, both on strikeouts. He also committed two errors, one at first base and one at third. But, after hitting a two-run dong in the fifth, he blasted a three-run bomb to left in the eighth, giving Boston its margin of victory.

Dustin Pedroia went 5-for-6 and scored five runs.

The other AL game with 36 runs? The Red Sox won that one, too. June 29, 1950: Boston 22, Philadelphia 14. Three weeks earlier, the Red Sox had pounded the St. Louis Browns 20-4 and 29-4 on back-to-back days. That 1950 team could mash: it scored 1,027 runs in 154 games (6.67 per game).

The major league record is 49 runs (Chicago 26, Philadelphia 23, August 25, 1922). The Phillies recovered and shutout the Cubs 3-0 in 11 innings the next day!

"This is everything I have ever dreamed of. It has come true now and I'm going to the major leagues. It's ridiculous. I'm at a loss for words. I really don't know what to say about it. I'll be smiling forever now. This is just awesome. Awesome."

Zink has had an exceptional year in Pawtucket: 13-4, 2.89 in 25 starts, with a .228 opponents batting average. Two weeks ago, he said:

It just gradually kept getting better and better. Now it's finally to the point where I'm not ever worried about throwing a ball. Full counts, I'll throw a knuckleball still. I don't worry about walking people anymore.

A lot of it is me just having to believe in it. I always wanted to go back to throwing hard. Now I know I can't do that anymore, so I have to be able to figure it out to throw consistent knuckleballs up there that will move and hopefully not get hit hard.

Zink was signed as an undrafted free agent in April 2002 on the recommendation of Luis Tiant, his coach at Georgia's Savannah College of Art and Design. In addition to the knuckler, he throws a fastball (low 80s, faster than Wakefield's), curve and changeup (thrown at roughly the same speed as the knuckler, 66-71).

Once he became a full-time knuckleballer, I couldn't even play catch with him anymore. He just kept hitting me so much. I had bruises everywhere.

Justin Masterson:

He consistently comes out and pitches like you would expect a veteran to. ... He's been working so hard that many of us thought he should have been here already. He's fun to watch ... so laid back ... slicing and dicing.

Zink will be starting on only three days rest, having thrown seven innings and 104 pitches on Friday. He has pitched on short rest three times this season: 15.1 IP, 1 run, 8 BB, 13 K.

I caught him probably three starts last year, and he threw the ball very well. This year, obviously, what he's doing in the International League, he's probably made some drastic improvements. I've caught bits and pieces from guys coming up, and I've asked about how he's throwing.

He pitches a lot like Wake as far as, he's able to throw his knuckleball for strikes and when he gets behind 2-0 or 3-1, he's still committed to throwing the knuckleball. I think that's big. If you're not committed to doing that, you're going to get in trouble throwing 80-mph fastballs when you're behind in the count.

He uses a protective gel on the nail of his index finger, because that one rubs against the ball. He grows the nail on his middle finger long so he can dig it into the ball. He calls it a "one nail and one knuckle" grip, which is what he thought he had seen Wakefield do on television all those years earlier. Wakefield actually uses two fingertips. ... "I haven't seen anybody else with this grip."

The Globe's Sunday magazine featured Zink in May 2008. (His Japanese-American grandparents, while living in California, were imprisoned in a US internment camp during World War II.) ... He was also featured in The New Yorker back in May 2004.

What number will Zink get? He wears #16 with Pawtucket, but Luis Alicea has that number in Boston. It would be cool if he got 30 -- the atomic number for zinc -- but Jonathan Van Every received that number earlier this year.

806 comments:

"Hey, 2004 was like 20 years ago! And all you did was walk! Mariano let four fly! It was not, like, some 12-pitch at-bat! [imitates Millar's stance] Ball 1, Ball 2, Ball 3, Ball 4. That's all you did."

Later he sends a text to Millar: "Did you bring your glasses for the laser show tonight?"

Also loved the FY article. It's nice to see that the Pedey/Cano debate, while still in the early stages, is tilting in favor of our guy.

Anybody read the New Yorker article from a few years back about the art of the knuckleball? It's a very informative and interesting read, and also prominently mentions Zink. I still have no idea how to post links here, but if you go to The New Yorker website and do a search for "Charlie Zink", the article pops right up.

Anyone notice that Bay hasn't been hitting very well since he started batting sixth and not fifth? Of course, it can easily be because he had that initial burst when he first joined the team and he's cooled off, regardless of placement in the lineup.

Can't really look at this game as to what Zn can really do, in games like this you just don't pitch the same.

Remember that game against the Marlins that we scored, like, 17 runs in the first? We also gave up like 10 runs that game, but it wasn't really because our pitching sucked, it's because we were throwing strikes to keep pitch counts down just to get the gave over because it practically already was.